different between allay vs lull

English

Alternative forms

• alay (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English alayen, aleyen, aleggen, from Old English ?le??an (“to put, place, lay down, lay aside, throw down, give up, cease from, abandon; put down, allay, suppress, abolish, conquer, destroy, overcome, refute; lay upon, inflict, impose upon; diminish, take away, refuse, lessen, withhold”), from Proto-Germanic *uzlagjan? (“to lay down”), equivalent to a- +? lay. Cognate with German erlegen (“to impose, cause to succumb, kill”), Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (uslagjan, “to lay down”). In Middle English the word was identical to forms of allege and alloy, leading to much overlapping of senses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??le?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Verb

allay (third-person singular simple present allays, present participle allaying, simple past and past participle allayed)

1. (transitive) To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.

   Synonyms: appease, assuage, compose, soothe, calm, quiet
2. (transitive) To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate.

   Synonyms: alleviate, abate

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To subside, abate, become peaceful.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark IV:

     And the wynde alayed, and there folowed a greate calme: and he sayde unto them: why are ye fearfull?
4. (archaic) To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
5. (archaic, by extension) To make worse by the introduction of inferior elements.

Translations

Noun

allay (plural allays)

1. Alleviation; abatement; check.
2. (obsolete) An alloy.

References

• allay in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Layla

Quechua

Noun

allay

1. harvest or digging up of potatoes or tubers

Declension

Verb

allay

1. (transitive) to dig, dig up, dig out, excavate; to harvest tubers

Conjugation

See also

• aymuray
• pallay

English

Etymology

From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child.

Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lulla (“to lull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Noun

lull (plural lulls)

1. A period of rest or soothing.
2. A period of reduced activity; a respite
3. (nautical) A period without waves or wind.
   • 1839, The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1839, p. 26:

     […] during the lull, wind shifted to S. E. […]

   • 1875, W. G. Wilson, Report of the Midnapore and Burdwan Cyclone of the 15th and 16th of October 1874, p. 74:

     After the lull the wind does not appear to have blown with any great strength […]

   • 2016, David Houghton and Fiona Campbell, Wind Strategy, not paginated

     The air under each cloud has spent time near the surface, has been slowed and backed by friction—it is a lull.

4. (surfing) An extended pause between sets of waves.
   • 1992, John Warlaumont, The Noaa Diving Manual, p. 19-19

     It is advisable to leave the surf zone during the lull between sets of larger waves, waiting outside the surf zone for a lull.

   • 808surfer.com forum (password needed)

     About 2 hours in, a long lull cleared everyone out, and then it started getting a little more consistent and pushing chest ta neck high.

Translations

Verb

lull (third-person singular simple present lulls, present participle lulling, simple past and past participle lulled)

1. (transitive) To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm

   Synonyms: soothe, quiet
2. (intransitive) To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate.

   The storm lulled.

Derived terms

• belull
• lullful
• lullsome

Synonyms

• (To cause to rest): appease

Translations